Kariye Museum is among the top must-see museums in the world. It may well be accepted as the most important Byzantine monument in İstanbul after the Hagia Sophia.

It was originally the center of a Byzantine monastery complex. Only the church section, which was dedicated to Jesus Christ the Savior, has survived. A little after the arrival of the Turks in Istanbul, this building, was converted into a mosque. In 1948 it was made a museum leaving no Islamic element in the building except the mihrap in the apse and the 19th century minaret outside.